Volgograd fraud case over college and clinic construction sent to court

In Volgograd, a criminal case has been transferred to court against the director of LLC «Tambov Construction Company» Alexander Kornaushkin. He is accused of two episodes of large-scale fraud in the execution of state contracts.

«It has been established that in November 2022, two contracts were concluded between the State Treasury Institution »Capital Construction Department« and LLC »Tambov Construction Company« for the capital repair of the educational and sports building of the Volgograd Medical College and the construction of paramedic and midwife stations (FAPs) in the Pallassovsky, Uryupinsky, and Chernyshkovsky districts of the region,» said senior assistant prosecutor of the Volgograd region for media relations Oksana Cheredinina. «After receiving an advance of more than 74 million rubles (about $823,600 at current rates), the defendant in the criminal case disposed of the budget funds at his own discretion, without performing the work stipulated by the contracts.»

The prosecutor«s office noted that the damage caused has been compensated to the budget through bank guarantees, and construction is being completed by a new contractor. The property of the accused, worth more than 340 thousand rubles (about $3,800 at current rates), has been seized. The criminal case will be considered by the Central District Court.

The financial indicators of LLC «Tambov Construction Company» are only disclosed as of the end of 2022. During that time, the company showed revenue of 195.7 million rubles (about $2.17 million at current rates) and net profit of 2.4 million rubles (about $26,700 at current rates). At the same time, as of November 2025, the company owed 118 million rubles (about $1.31 million at current rates) in taxes and fees. The company is listed in the register of unscrupulous suppliers, and in December 2025, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against «Tambov Construction Company.»

Alexander Kornaushkin himself did not consider himself a criminal, assuring that he returned every last penny.

«There was no crime,» the man assured. «All the money was returned to the budget. I didn»t even start the work and returned everything. The contract was awarded in August 2022 with a deadline until October. It«s impossible to complete the work in such a timeframe. But the former head of the fund said it was very important to win the contract, and the deadlines would be shifted later. But then a new head came, and the contracts were terminated. The money was returned immediately. I have no idea why the criminal case was started. Now I am under a travel restriction agreement. Interrogations and other investigative actions are being conducted,» the man explained during the preliminary investigation.

Nevertheless, Alexander admitted some guilt:

«I am guilty of getting involved in this story. But there was no embezzlement here. This money was inside the company. It was used to finance our other state contracts. But then I returned all the money anyway. To the fund. This is standard practice. All the statements were provided. An explanation was given for every payment. Misuse of funds, perhaps, occurred. For example, you receive an advance for building a house and use that money to buy paper for the office, or pay for paper guarantees under another contract. That»s not embezzlement. If I hadn«t returned all the money later, I would have been shut down long ago.»

It is worth noting that the reconstruction of the Volgograd Medical College building cost the job of the director of the State Treasury Institution of the Volgograd Region «Capital Construction Department» Andrey Kozmenko. The personnel conclusions were made by Andrey Bocharov at the construction site of the reconstruction of building No. 2 of the Volgograd Medical College.

According to the governor, the deadlines for the reconstruction of the facility were missed twice:

«There will not be a third time. Who is our client? Tell me, how did it happen that we had two contracts and each of these contracts was not fulfilled?» the governor asked, addressing Andrey Kozmenko.

«The contractor is unscrupulous, they didn»t have people,« the official tried to justify himself. »They were all from Moscow, they came, hoping they could find labor here...«

«I»m not talking about that now, not at all,« Andrey Bocharov was outraged. »How did it happen that the first contract, concluded in 2022, was executed by 0.5% and in a year they didn«t move an inch. And we didn»t do anything with them during that period, only terminated the contract a year later. Why did we have to wait a year to understand that they had nothing?«

A few minutes after this message appeared in the Telegram channel of the regional administration, another one appeared — about personnel decisions:

«There are personnel changes in the construction bloc of the Volgograd region,» the message says. «The head of the State Treasury Institution of the Volgograd Region »Capital Construction Department« Andrey Kozmenko has left his post. The duties of the head of the department are temporarily performed by Vladimir Yemelyanov, who previously held the position of first deputy head of the department.»